Let it simmer

I have been working on a new novel for a bit now. It has flowed well. Then stuttered to a stop mid-scene. Something was off about this scene. It would just not play out right. What do you do when you falter? When you know beyond a doubt that something is just off about a…

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Character mapping and profiles

I generally speaking keep a notebook on each novel I write for ideas. In there I include character profiles. I have descriptors I use. Traits I want to keep in mind for future reference. I keep it fairly simple and this is the method I have always used. It is interesting to map out your…

It was a good hunt

Went to my favorite place today and hunted down some books. Most of them are new authors to me but look intriguing.  I have a vacation coming up (Yes, even those of us who are on disability take vacations), so it was necessary I find enough reading material to cover up to then and the…

Typo Blind

It seems that no matter how many times we edit our own work we can be blind to typos. Yet when we read a book or edit the work of someone else the typos pop right out. According to the article What's up with that: Why it's so hard to catch your own typos there…

How Do You Share Backstory Information

Jen's Pen Den

Welcome to Twitter Treasure Thursday! So, as I’ve been revising my manuscript, I’ve been trying to figure out how to slip in background details about my characters and the world they live in–you know, tell the reader about the main events and conflicts that have led them to where they are now. Of course, there is the wicked temptation to dump all the information on the reader in one foul swoop, or even squeeze it all into a prologue. But many consider those big no-no’s.

So then how should writers present the backstory? How do we slip those necessary details in without committing a writing sin or boring the reader?

 Well, today’s gem addresses this issue. Autumn M. Bart (@Weifarer) tweeted an article from the blog Guild of Dreams: Backstory.

How much backstory should I spoon feed my readers?

I belong to a large online writers’ critique group, and I see this question posted almost weekly…

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Exercise Joys and Creativity

I wonder if exercise increases your creativity. I read all these meme's about the benefits of just walking twenty minutes a day. Personally I think exercise sucks. I believe I am very lazy. Also, exercise is exceptionally boring. Although all that mind wandering may have a perk. However, unlike normal people I do not have…

The Door Opens, So Quietly: Self-Publishers Now Can Join The Authors Guild

Thought Catalog

iStockphoto / scibak

Hear Me Now, Believe Me Later

Authors…need to be part of the group that works out the future direction of this business.

That comes from the lead editorial in this week’s edition of The Bookseller. It will be on the stands on Friday in London. The editorial, from the magazine’s Philip Jones, will be online shortly after that.

Jones writes in his piece, wryly headlined “United Authors Unite”:

This bestseller group [he’s referring to Douglas Preston’s Authors United group] join indie authors such as Orna Ross, Joanna Penn, Hugh Howey, and Joe Konrath, who have taken a lead in debating how self-publishing can help reshape all of publishing. Indeed, some of the best analysis about future publishing comes from these “newbies”, as last week’s launch of Kindle Unlimited in the US showed.

And Jones notes that it’s not as if there’s no representation out there:

It would be…

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